Logan County Commissioners approve marketing service for gift basket program

STERLING — The Logan County Commissioners approved three Lodging Tax Board projects at their meeting on Tuesday.

Among the projects was a request for $168, for a marketing service, Constant Contact, that the Tourist Information Center (TIC) plans to use for their gift basket program. The request was in conjunction with the up to $1,000 funding request the commissioners approved in November 2012, to purchase gift baskets to be given away each month from November 2012 through October 2013.

Tax Board Treasurer Dave Conley explained the marketing company would be used to handle all the email addresses generated from the program. In order to sign up to win a basket, visitors at the center have to provide their email addresses and an indication of what their interests are. Email blasts can then be sent out to people regarding their interests and hopefully draw more people to Logan County.

He said that the email addresses are in the format that TIC Coordinator Marilee Johnson would be able to send out self-generated emails to people based on their interests. Conley noted that use of the marketing service means Johnson wouldn't have to use up memory on her computer to store the email addresses.

She still has control over the entry of the emails.

Conley said Johnson used a 30-day free trial to try the marketing service and she was happy with the service. The $168 would cover a full year of service from the company.

The TIC also requested $1,325 for a volunteer recognition dinner and volunteer incentives in the form of Logan County Chamber of Commerce Bucks. Cost for the dinner is $600 and the incentives are $725.

Advertisement

Conley explained the recognition dinner is an annual event, but it was not held last year because the former TIC coordinator, Elda Lousberg, was retiring at that time and things were in a state of flux. This year's dinner will be at the Heritage Center, with 4-H Foundation serving dinner.

He also noted that Lousberg used to hand out cash to volunteers based on how many hours they put in. However, Johnson would like to give every volunteer the same amount of money in Chamber Bucks, so that money stays in the county.

The third request, for up to $1,000, was an annual request from the Chamber for the 2013 Regional Tourism Council, with the funds covering expenses to attend the monthly meetings, the Sportman's Expo and the Tourism Conference.

Conley noted that last year's request was for $1,500, because historically every other year the county has paid the $500 annual fee to belong to the council and in the other years the Lodging Tax Board picks up the annual fee. This year the county will be paying the fee.

In other business the commissioners approved:

• A resolution re-appointing Joanne Jefferies and Steven Shinn to serve as members of the Board of Directors of the Logan County Justice Center Corporation, with their term ending in January 2016;

• A resolution directing the allocation of federal leasing funds, in the amount of $41,597.98, received and held by the treasurer. The money will be deposited into the county general fund;

• An agreement between Logan County and Excel Energy for use of the county's right of way under County Road 18, an eighth mile of the intersection at County Road 25, for an underground electric distribution line. The Road and Bridge Department will oversee the work, which will be completed no later than March 31;

• A resolution granting the renewal of a conditional use permit, for a period of five years, for the operation of Rothe Sand & Gravel Pit, located at 19727 Factory Street, on behalf of Lee and Marlene Rothe. The renewal was granted on the condition of continued compliance with federal, state and local county laws and regulations pertaining to gravel pits;

• A resolution granting the renewal of a special use permit, for a five-year term, for the operation of a recreational vehicle and boat storage facility, related equipment and structures and for the sale and storage of firewood to campers, on behalf of Bruce A. Sauter. The facility is located two miles east of North Sterling Reservoir.

Under the consent agenda, the commissioners acknowledged receipt of the clerk and recorder's report for December, as well as receipt of the treasurer's report.

The commissioners' next regular business meeting will be 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the Logan County Courthouse.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.